


Pandora

by Enmuse (Scifiroots)



Category: Firefly, Serenity (2005)
Genre: Community: rounds_of_kink, Gen, Post-Canon, Revenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-23
Updated: 2010-03-23
Packaged: 2017-10-08 06:28:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/73675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scifiroots/pseuds/Enmuse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Don't you mess with a little girl's dreams, cause she's liable to grow up mean</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pandora

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Round 14, day 3 of rounds_of_kink  
> **Prompt**: any, any, Don't you mess with a little girl's dreams, cause she's liable to grow up mean  
> **Kink**: Revenge  
> **Notes/Warnings**: No warnings. (Well, ok, I admit there is the slightest hint of incest in here despite my utter lack of effort to include any pairings.)

They had no idea what they had created.

The Academy had lured in a handful of test subjects through promises of exceptional programming and competitive opportunities. Only twenty percent of the group proved viable. A few months later they realized only one subject held the potential they sought. The girl was perfect. They invested so much time and so many resources into River Tam. Examinations proved her remarkable endurance to the stresses induced by testing procedures. She adapted quickly to each procedure conducted, allowing the scientists to move much faster than anticipated. The facilitators were pleased to see results come pouring in and justify the project to their investors. _She is perfect,_ they explained; _she is excellent for the project with her unassuming, frail figure and innocent doe eyes_. After they completed their work she would be the perfect weapon. _Brilliant work_, the investors agreed. The scientists optimistically predicted a demonstration in just four months' time rather than the nine months previously expected.

However, everyone made a fatal mistake and failed to take into account the strength of love. The bond between brother and sister had always been strong, and Simon Tam's devotion to his sister could not be deterred once he realized she was in trouble. His top three percent could not compare to the genius of The Academy's test subjects, but despite this handicap and lack of experience, he found a way into the compound. By the time the alarms sounded, the Tam siblings had escaped the reach of security.

The facilitators made a mistake and had not prepared for a situation where their perfect weapon might leave the compound incomplete and un-programmed. They had opened Pandora's box but failed to close it in time to keep their hopes, their goals within.

 

Out in the universe the girl found strength and family. She evaded The Academy's toadies, criminal masterminds, and insane bounty hunters. She watched and listened and learned. She had nightmares, memories of the horrors at The Academy, but she also dreamed. She thrived.

When she came knocking at The Academy's door, it took less than twenty-eight minutes to destroy every record, every lab, and every scientist that had dared to play God. River Tam stood silently in the lab of her nightmares where the consoles and equipment now lay in ruins. She stared at the chair where she once sat, presently occupied by the corpse of a doctor with a broken neck and sightless eyes.

She stood alone for several minutes before her brother found her. He glanced at the body and made no sign of disapproval or distress as he once might have. He moved to his sister's side and looked for any injuries. He noted the blood, less than expected, staining her arms and clothing, but no skin had been torn. He waited for her to focus on him.

When she did, she blinked away the memories of horror and smiled slowly at her brother. She leaned close to whisper, "Don't you mess with a little girl's dreams, 'cause she's liable to grow up mean."

\-----


End file.
